Extreme made easy: GoPro HERO4 Session review

GoPro HERO4 Session review

Waterproof, ruggedized, incredibly-small and lightweight, the Session is a no-brainer to toss in your bag or coat pocket before heading out on an adventure.

The GoPro HERO4 Session is the company's latest action camera release. Unlike GoPros before it, the Session is completely waterproof without the need for any housing. It is also the smallest, lightest GoPro to date, 50% smaller than the HERO4 (Black or Silver) and 40% lighter.

The GoPro HERO4 Session is capable of video capture at the following resolutions and frame rates:

Video Resolution

Frame rate

1920 x 1440

30 fps, 25 fps

1920 x 1080

60 fps, 50 fps, 48 fps (in Ultra Wide mode only), 30 fps, 25 fps

1280 x 960

60 fps, 50 fps, 30 fps, 25 fps

1280 x 720

100 fps, 60 fps, 50 fps, 30 fps, 25 fps

848 x 480

120 fps, 100 fps

The Session has dual microphones - one on the front and another on the back - for improved audio quality. The camera will automatically choose to prioritize one mic over the over, depending on the scenario. Stills can be captured at a frame rate as fast as 10 fps (limited to 1 sec bursts). Images are captured at 8MP resulting in a 3264 x 2448 still.

The Session can also capture time-lapses. Available intervals include 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10, 30 and 60 secs.

Auto Low Light, a feature that determines video frame-rate based on lighting conditions, gives the promise of better low light video quality, something that action cams are not particularly good at. It's worth noting that video files will playback at the selected frame-rate and resolution when using Auto Low Light.

ProTune, an option that allows users to dial in more advanced settings, is available on the HERO4 Session. Selecting ProTune allows users to set their ISO limit (either ISO 400 or ISO 1600), and toggle sharpness on and off. The Session also features a spot meter mode, that, as you may have guessed, determines exposure based on a small point in the center of the frame.

What's included

In addition to the unit itself, the GoPro HERO4 Session ships with just enough to get you started, including: a standard frame, a low-profile frame, one curved adhesive mount, one flat adhesive mount, a ball joint buckle and mounting buckles. A Micro-USB cable is also included for charging and transferring files directly from the GoPro to a computer.

Compared to Siblings

The price of the GoPro HERO4 Session recently dropped to $200. Here's how it sizes up against GoPro's other current offerings:

HERO4 Session

HERO4 Black

HERO4 Silver

HERO+

Max Video Resolution

1440/30p

4K (UHD) 2160/30p

4K (UHD) 2160/15p

1080/60p

Photo Resolution

3264 x 2448

4000 x 3000

4000 x 3000

3264 x 2448

Waterproof (without a housing)

Yes

No

No

No

Max Still Burst

10 fps

30 fps

10 fps

5 fps

Weight

74 g

152 g

147 g

123 g

Street price

$200

$500

$400

$200

Design

The HERO4 unit itself is a tiny 1.5" cube. The body has only two buttons: the large record button on top, located directly in front of the LCD, and a small Info/Wi-Fi button on the lower portion of the back (see lower image). Press the record button once to turn the camera on and start capture - by default the video will be 1080/30p. Press and hold the record button for two seconds to start a time-lapse. By default it will shoot a photo every half-second. In both cases, hitting the record button again stops capture and powers the device down.

Users can change video and still capture settings, in addition to turning on Wi-Fi by hitting the Info/Wi-Fi button and poking through the options. However, the two-button ergonomics can make for a pretty confusing user experience. We found it much easier to change settings by using the GoPro app.

The LCD on top displays the battery life, recording mode, resolution and clip length (when capturing video), or the number of photos left (if you’re shooting a time-lapse). A small switch on the side of unit, when pressed, reveals the Micro-SD card slot and Micro-USB port (see below).

The HERO4 Session is impressively tough. The body is coated in a rubber-like material, and the door containing the Micro-USB port and microSD slot appears well-sealed. We're not entirely sure what kind of glass the front element is made of, but several run-ins with a flying skateboard didn't even leave a scratch. Seriously, we beat this unit up quite a bit over the course of field testing it, with no damage to speak of.

50 percent down in price???No one ask too much questions!i call this good moneymakers.What have they invented untill now?The camera without a screen?Hope for them they patented it.No ,if you like a professional camera with good stabilization look for a sony one!and if you know already for youself that you are not that hero ,look at all these chinese brands.Some of them are really good.i use them a lot while running around and for timelapse.But ,yes ,gopro is the best and while using ,you are better than the rest..........They announced 2016 as the year of their karma.Hope for them the best......

"Also, part of the not-so-good decision by the company was the pricing of the Hero 4 Session at $399.99 during its launch that made it quite prohibitive. The stiff pricing resulted in poor sales for the device. That left GoPro with no choice but to slash the price of the device and is now down to $199.99."

This thing looks like it would be fun to use because of it’s size and durability. I don’t do much video. I also don’t have a back up camera on my SUV I could also use it for that. Just a good back up camera cost 200 dollars or more and you have to have a dedicated screen. I haven’t seen one you can use a phone or tablet with.

I opted for the Hero4 Silver because of user changeable batteries but I imagine the video quality is the same. So far I've attached it to my car roof rack and my dashboard. The roof rack is better even though it is noisier up there. Maybe I'll pick this little one up and put it on my kite.

I own one (bought it right around Christmas time). Mine was relatively cheap because I was given a $175 gift card to the Apple Store, so I went and got this nifty camera. My out of pocket expense was about 35 bucks.

So, is it worth $199? That depends.

It is extremely small, very durable, and can attach to anything without attracting a lot of attention. It's perfect for a skateboard, surfboard, RC plane or car, and anywhere else you need a very light action camera. It's 2.5 ounces and can be used without any of the mounts.

What I do is take Velcro (the kind with the sticky back) and mount the camera on whatever I want. If the camera will take a few licks then I use the mounts and case (which doesn't add much bulk or weight.

I mounted it to the front bumper and had a car-totaling wreck (three weeks ago). The camera didn't get a scratch (even after being ejected across the road).

Low light video is poor and grainy. Outdoor is fine. Live view through phone or tablet is great

To follow up: If you NEED a tiny action camera, this thing is worth the money (when shooting outdoors). If you don't need it to be small then spend the 200 on a decent waterproof camera that does video, has zoom, etc.

If GoPro thought this would be a game changer, they really messed up. It's a fun camera, and I really enjoy mine, but I doubt I'd buy it for 199.

If I was a skater or someone who really needed light and small, then I'd do it. Again, it's small (about the size of a golf ball). It's much better on a helmet than the other GoPros, and it's very strong.

I'm guess that DPreview started this review before GoPro was sued for (allegedly) copying the Polaroid Cube and before GoPro was forced to significantly discount the Session? I suppose that GoPro was always headed for a fall, but the Session feels like the biggest mistake in the history of the company.

It took decades for the original iterations of Polaroid and Kodak to become irrelevant, but GoPro has "Jumped The Shark" much more quickly.

What's the point of all of the speeded up clips. Impossible to assess anything with those except on the odd occasion when the car stopped. Yes I'm sure an owner of these might use it once or twice for fun and maybe a time lapse function can be useful for recording some events. Most will always use it in really time.I'd rather have one of these. LCD screen and even Raw if you want it.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X10JFBd94GM

Had some coupons at Best Buy that were about to expire and couldn't figure out a thing to get there, so decided to get this camera for snow/beach play and other fun stuff with/by the kids. Was hesitant with built in battery, but then again, I still use the original battery in most of my cameras after years of use and they still perform OK, so I decided why not. And yes, I mounted it on a helmet (and on an off-road RC car). It's a ruggedly built fun toy and does nice little clips at a fairly high resolution that entertain the kids. It's very intuitive to use and for my purposes it works great.

Stills photos are very disappointing. Sure they a sub-ILC. But they are sub-smartphone too. No detail at all when pixel peeping, and this is only at 8mp. I would have expected better per-pixel sharpness at this resolution...

But I love the shape and size. I'll buy when it does 4k as good as my smartphone...

This has been available on GoPro since 2013 - the Hero3, Hero3+, Hero4+, and Hero Session all have a have 22mm "medium FOV" and 28mm "narrow FOV" modes that crops out a bit of the fisheye/wide angle distortion compared to the default 14mm "ultra wide" mode (resolution drops to 1080p instead of max resolution of the GoPro model).

You can also de-fish the video (remove barrel-distortion) which also further reduces the effective field of view and gives you a rectilinear output.

I see what you mean Jeff, it is in a kind of housing but it's non-removable and part of the unit if that makes sense - no additional purchase is necessary. Nikon Keymission 360 looks very interesting too given the 360 capability.

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